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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22579282">Pin The Fox</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Voolffman/pseuds/Voolffman'>Voolffman</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, IrukaAdoptsNaruto, canontypicalviolance, thatsit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 11:47:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,165</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22579282</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Voolffman/pseuds/Voolffman</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After rescuing a desperately injured eight-year-old Naruto, Iruka helps him out.</p><p>Updates eventually</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>104</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So I started this like over a year ago and got like a chapter and a half written....and then spent an entire day and basically wrote the whole thing....so...yeah. Enjoy!!!</p><p>Also if stabbing makes you uncomfortable then turn back while you can. But like y'all are reading Naruto so....</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Pain lanced his side as the katana continued to pierce through him and dig deeply into the prickly wooden wall behind him. The warm, sticky feeling continued to drip down from the katana as the attacker growled angrily as the helpless young boy strained to stand on his toes in order to prevent the katana from ripping into his ribs.</p><p> </p><p>“You killed them,” the assailant snarled, their head bowed, and their sweaty hands curled tight around the katana’s hilt as they slowly dug the sword deeper and deeper into the wood.</p><p> </p><p>Naruto didn’t know what to think, he had never met this ninja in the whole eight years of his life, much less killed anyone.  But it hurt, his side hurt, a lot, a whole lot. He had just been on his way to get some Ichiraku Ramen for dinner, when he had been forcefully grabbed and dragged into the dark alley only to be stuck to the wall like some poorly pinned poster.</p><p> </p><p>The ninja’s hands were shaking, rattling the katana, causing more of the warm sticky substance to dribble down Naruto’s side and splatter onto his pants leg. “They’re dead, they’re all dead, and it’s all because of you,” they choked out in the thick stench alcohol. They stilled before releasing their hold on the katana and dropping their hands to their side. “My children... my children…” they murmured as they unsteadily stumbled backwards into the shadows, fleeing the scene of their own blood-stained abuse.</p><p> </p><p>A cold breeze blew through the alleyway, cutting through the cheap fabric of Naruto’s t-shirt and sweatpants and stabbing his side.  Naruto gasped in pain at the sudden burning sensation that ran up and through his torso. It hurt so, so much but all Naruto could do was stand there on his toes and do his best to not to pass out, but that was getting harder and harder as time passed by...</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Lost and Found</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Iruka to the rescue!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Ahhh I can't remember if I said this or not, but like Naruto is 8..did I say that in the last chapter? And, if I'm remembering correctly, I think Iruka is 18. I remember I did the math but I'm not so good at math so...</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>To this day Iruka Umino couldn’t tell you what made him decide that he wanted Ichiraku ramen for dinner that night or why he took the route he did that night, but he was glad he did. As Iruka was passing a particularly narrow and dark alleyway the faint tang of blood hit his nose. Freezing, Iruka quickly and quietly drew out his shuriken, the possibility of enemy ninja foremost on his mind. As he slowly inched forward, small whimpers of pain reached his ears, not whimpers from an adult, but the whimper of a hurt child, a sound Iruka was quickly becoming well acquainted with as he taught at the academy. While every instinct was screaming at him to rush in and help the child, Iruka stopped and checked for a genjutsu. Failing to discover one, Iruka quickly ran into the alleyway only to see a small bloody Naruto pinned to the wall with a katana.</p><p> </p><p>"Naruto!" shouted the young shinobi as he raced to the young boy's side. Naruto looked awful, not only was he pale and shaky, most likely due to the loss of blood and the pain, but his face was also flushed and tear streaked from crying. Not to mention it seemed to be taking everything in the boy to stay on his toes, literally, or the katana would slice through the jinchuuriki's small ribs. And even if Iruka wasn't particularly fond of the kid, this was still plain evil to do to him.</p><p> </p><p>"Naruto," the man softly said, trying not to startle the young boy, who still had not noticed him, and make it worse.</p><p> </p><p>However, Naruto still had not noticed him. So when the chuunin said it a second time, louder but still kindly, he unfortunately still managed to startle the boy who looked up at him with fear laced eyes.</p><p> </p><p>"Naruto, it's me, Iruka-sensei. From school. I know you don't have many classes with me, but do you remember me?"</p><p> </p><p>There were a few precious moments of hesitation, in which Iruka was getting to the point of not caring about whether or not Naruto was going to "panic panic" and just run him to the hospital, but eventually Naruto did one small quiet nod of acknowledgement and Iruka sighed internally in relief.</p><p> </p><p>"Alight, I'm going to help you Naruto, but it's probably going to hurt a lot, okay? But I promise I'm helping you, okay?" Naruto seemed a little unsure at that, but he silently nodded his head in agreement. Plus Naruto knew he didn't have many options right then, and Iruka-sensei had never been mean to him. Tough and strict? Yes. But never mean, not like other teachers.</p><p> </p><p>"Naruto, I need you to listen to me. I am going to pull out the sword until I can easily get it out of the wall and then I'm going to leave it in you until we get to the hospital, otherwise you might bleed out before we get there. This is going to hurt a lot. Are you ready?"</p><p> </p><p>A curt nod followed.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Welp, fun times, fun times. I just like the visual of like people passing this super dark alleyway like "wow what a nice night for a stroll, bc that's people do" but like it's super intense and scary in the alley way. Yeah. Anywho, thanks for reading!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Unsheathed</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In which Iruka earns all of the adult points that that other "adults" around him have lost</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>... okay other than the fact that this is au bc Iruka adopts Naruto....its also a slight au in the fact that I have the Kyuubi only heal anything that is immedietly life threatening and not the entire inury. Bc if Masashi Kishimoto gets to use plot juice to keep Naruto healthy I get to use plot juice to do the opposite bc this is FAN FICTION and no one has stopped me yet. (Okay but in all seriousness I do have actual reasoning and if any of y'all would actually like to know just ask in the comments section and I'll answer.)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Naruto was dizzy. He was very dizzy right then as he tried to figure out what exactly he was feeling. The katana was stuck deep into the wooden wall and did not want to come out easily. Which meant Iruka-sensei had to do it a little bit at a time and when he did Naruto felt an icy hot pain race throughout his body, ending at the tips of his fingers and his toes. But each time it was getting harder and harder to understand or hear Iruka-sensei's words and harder to stay on his toes. Instead there was this loud ringing in his ears and a freezing sweat enveloping his face. And for some reason there were these gray red clouds encroaching on his vision. All in all, it was a fairly unpleasant sensation and Naruto wasn't sure how long he was gonna be able to-</p><p> </p><p>"Naruto!"</p><p> </p><p>Iruka-sensei's shout was the last thing he heard before he was engulfed in the darkness.</p><p> </p><p>Iruka had finally gotten the sword to a place where he'd be able to get Naruto off the wall easily when he felt a sudden shift in Naruto only to notice that the child was barely on the cusp of consciousness.</p><p> </p><p>"Naruto!" he shouted in fear, hoping that it would wake the boy up enough that he wouldn't fall.</p><p> </p><p>Unfortunately that was not viable and the chuunin had to pull the sword out of the wall and catch Naruto at the same time.</p><p> </p><p>Hoisting the boy into his arms and making sure the katana wouldn't be able to move much, the young teacher leapt onto the roofs with his precious cargo and raced to the hospital as fast as he could without further injuring the boy.</p><p> </p><p>Waiting in the hospital was pure torture and since Naruto had no relatives and the Hokage was currently in a "classified" meeting, Iruka, as an Academy teacher, was the most valid guardian for Naruto at the moment and that meant he had to give the hospital certain permissions for things that they could not do otherwise without a guardian present. Which meant Iruka had to do paperwork while waiting for news of Naruto's surgery.</p><p> </p><p>After about three hours of worrying and waiting a nurse finally walked over to him and said, "If that had been any other child, they would likely be dead. However, the Kyuubi seems to have healed all of the life threatening injuries with the help of our surgeries. That does not mean he is not still injured, it just means he's not in danger of dying."</p><p>Iruka nodded along, relief washing through his system.</p><p> </p><p>"Which also means he's being released. Here are some antibiotics to prevent infection and some painkillers. He has to have one each every six hours, he just had them. And here he comes."</p><p> </p><p>Before Iruka could even protest the small boy was being loosely led by another nurse until the Naruto was handed off to Iruka and the two nurses scuttled away leaving a baffled and righteously angry Iruka-sensei and a very tired and very confused Naruto in an empty hospital hallway.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Cliffhangers??? What cliffhangers??? Pssshhh ahahahah ah ha ha. Ha. But really?Those nurses should be F I R E D. I say. Having written them. Knowing nurses. And having friends and family in the medical field. And giving nurses a bad rap. But this is Naruto. And writing Naruto fanfiction (or canon) means making basically every one with a bit part (or even main parts) a total butt. It's life. It's Naruto.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Of Fuzzy Sweaters and Sleep</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Fuzzy sweaters literally make everything better, amiright?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>One day I'll write chapters of long length and reasonably same length. Today is not that day.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Shaking his head at the obvious dismissal and unprofessionalism of the hospital, Iruka gave Naruto the once over. He had been put back into his blood stained t-shirt and sweatpants, the wrapping visible through the brand new hole in it. The kid himself looked like death warmed over with his extremely pale complexion, his bleary unfocused eyes, and the fact that the kid was standing was nothing short of a miracle, a cruel miracle. </p><p> </p><p>Giving into his guilty conscience and pitying the poor kid's plight, Iruka stood up and picked him up, Naruto practically melting into unconsciousness as his head rested on Iruka's shoulder. </p><p> </p><p>Sighing tiredly Iruka took his time getting back to his small one bedroom apartment, which was all he could comfortably afford with his teaching salary. </p><p> </p><p>Another thing that concerned Iruka was how small and light the kid was, however, there was not much he could do about it, at least not presently. No, right now he was going into his bedroom and getting Naruto something to change into because he was not having a kid sleep in his bed with bloody clothes on. </p><p> </p><p>So looking through his limited assortment of clothes, Iruka eventually decided on a thick sweater he usually saved for winter months and a pair of shorts he owned (when did he buy these? And had he ever even worn them?) that were long enough to be pants on the kid. The waist was a bit of a problem but since he'd just be sleeping in them, Iruka could just quickly wash Naruto's pants and give them to the kid in the morning to wear. After tucking the kid in he set an alarm for six hours from then and changed into his own sleepwear, threw Naruto's pants in the washer with his own bloodstained clothing, before heading to his one couch and crashing.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Kay, does anyone else find the Charmin commercials abt singing abt toilet paper to be annoying???? Am I alone???? Anywho, as always, thanks for reading!!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Confused But Luckily Not Concussed</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Cute fluff between our favorite Sensei and the number one hyper active ninja!!!</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Okay look. So the plan was "update every wednesday" but then I was dealing with quarentine, a literature degree, and a communications minor. And I still have a YEAR more of THAT. Altho hopefully no more quarentine. All I want to do is go to a bar ONCE after my 21st. ANYWAY NOT THE POINT. The point is that on a good day I don't know what day it is, but after no schedule and my one Wednesday class completely disapearring and the fact that my papers were piling up. I just didn't. Post. SO. I am so sorry. But I can't promise when this will update but uhh I have a couple more chapters prewritten. So I'll post them...when I remember... ANYWHO IF YOU READ ALL THAT enjoy the chappy below folks..</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>For a few split seconds upon awakening, Naruto was in heaven. He was nice and toasty, covered by a thick quilt instead of his thin blanket and sleeping on a comfortable soft fluffy mattress instead of the old lumpy one he usually slept on. He was wearing something thick and fluffy. And the smell. Oh it smelled divine. Naruto wasn't sure what the smell was, but he knew it was amazing and it was making him hungry. And that was when heaven's gates crashed around him because Naruto had decided to move and everything that had happened the previous night hit him like a freight train and suddenly Naruto couldn't even breathe he hurt so much. </p><p> </p><p>Also, where was he and why were his pants next him, cleaned and folded neatly? And whose bed was he in? Panicking at all of the unknowns that he was currently facing, the eight-year old sat up quickly and regretted it just as quickly as wave after wave of dizziness assaulted him and the wound beneath his ribs pulsed in time with his heart beat. Eventually both symptoms calmed down to a short term (ignorable) pain  and general dizziness.</p><p> </p><p>And so, after struggling into his sweatpants but leaving on the big comfy sweater (that was basically a dress, really) Naruto carefully and hesitantly made his way towards the delicious smell, leaning on the walls for support, only to see the back of Iruka-sensei quietly humming to himself as he made eggs on the stove.</p><p> </p><p>Sensing someone behind him, Iruka turned instantly, only to see the small, quivering figure of Naruto, swimming in the much too large sweater and barely managing to stay standing.</p><p>"Naruto! What are you doing up?" he asked racing over towards the young boy.</p><p> </p><p>Instead of answering, the confused Naruto had urgent questions of his own that needed answering. "Iruka-sensei what-where am I? And why are you here?"</p><p> </p><p>Iruka smiled gently at the boy, "You're in my apartment Naruto. I didn't want to just drop you off at yours last night and leave you alone, so I brought you to mine." </p><p> </p><p>Before Naruto could say anything, Iruka held up his hand, effectively silencing the young jinchuuriki and led him to a chair at the small table in his kitchen."Before I explain anything, I'm gonna finish making breakfast and then you're gonna take your antibiotics and painkillers, okay?"</p><p> </p><p>Sitting down and laying his head in his arms on the table, the dizzy kid just muttered, "Hai sensei," and watched as Iruka finished frying the eggs and scooped them onto plates, poured some orange juice into some glasses (he had bought the orange juice that morning), and grabbed Naruto's antibiotics and painkillers, and handed a pill of each to Naruto as he sat down.</p><p> </p><p>"Now Naruto, after you take your medicine, I'll explain the situation while you eat, alright?"</p><p>After suspiciously eyeing the pills (he clearly did not remember taking his other two previous doses) Naruto quickly swallowed them with a gulp of orange juice and started on his eggs.</p><p> </p><p>"Last night after I took you to the hospital, since I was the only potential guardian available because Hokage-sama was indisposed of at the time, I brought you to my apartment to watch you, and to make sure you're alright until Hokage-sama gives me directions. So that means Naruto, that you'll be staying here. I need to make sure you take your medication and I need to be sure you will not get an infection nor pass out from the blood loss and injury you sustained last night. Do you understand?"</p><p> </p><p>Confused and somewhat dazed by that answer Naruto just slowly nodded his head in understanding before getting back to his eggs. Everything hurt and he was dizzy and confused and talking made everything worse and his sensei was taking care of him and had even made him breakfast. At this point all Naruto wanted was to go back to sleep but he was afraid that if he went back to sleep he'd wake back up only to find he was still in the alleyway bleeding into a wall with a katana sticking out from below his ribs. And it scared him. So Naruto was going to eat his amazing eggs as slowly as possible and hopefully forestall the inevitable. </p><p> </p><p>However, the inevitable is the inevitable and Iruka could tell that Naruto was quickly succumbing to his body's desperate plea for rest that Naruto was stubbornly and unsuccessfully trying to ignore for some reason.  </p><p> </p><p>After watching this for a few minutes and Naruto finally finished his eggs, head bouncing as he tried to keep it aloft, Iruka just shook his own head before picking him up and Naruto, after a brief moment of unconscious surprise, instantly fell back asleep on Iruka's shoulder unintentionally gripping tightly to his teacher's night shirt and making him impossible to put down. </p><p> </p><p>Sighing in irritation, Iruka sat down on his couch with Naruto grasping tightly to him like a lifeline as Iruka made to grade papers he had been planning to grade last night after dinner. Truthfully Iruka was more than a little irritated and uncomfortable with having the jinchuuriki in his apartment. However, unlike most people in the village Iruka tried to at least treat the boy like a person, even if it was difficult and at times heartwrenching to know that the thing that killed his parents was right there, right in front of him, buried in the body of the small child that clung to him. But he wasn't going to just kick Naruto out, that would be unfair and cruel to the boy who had just barely escaped with his life. So shaking his head and thankful that it was the weekend, Iruka got to work as his own personal heater cuddled up to him.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As always, thanks for reading!!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Tiny Personal Heater</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Ah ha! I'm like 80% sure today is Wednesday!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>While having Naruto as a personal heater was nice for a while, it was starting to get a tad bit uncomfortable and also slightly worrying. But it was time for lunch and from what Iruka could tell, Naruto desperately needed to replenish his blood supply because apparently the Kyuubi wasn't doing much apparently to keep its container comfortable, just alive. And so, finishing the last paper in his first stack, Iruka tried to rouse the sleepy child, only for the said child to blink blearily up at Iruka and show his rather flushed cheeks before snuggling back into the crook of his neck. </p><p> </p><p>The teacher furrowed his brows worryingly; he hoped this wasn't any sign of something serious. Grumbling unintelligibly, he hauled himself and the kid to the kitchen to make lunch. Now for the tricky bit, to convince the sleepy and dazed Naruto to sit at the table while he made lunch for them. </p><p> </p><p>Getting down to his knees at least allowed for Naruto's bottom to be resting on the chair. However, he was still clinging to Iruka. Gently the young man shook Naruto's shoulder until the boy was once again blearily staring up at Iruka.</p><p> </p><p>"Hey Naruto?" he waited for the boy to reply.</p><p> </p><p>It was a few seconds before he replied, "Hai, sensei?"</p><p> </p><p>"I need you to let go of me so I can make lunch. You really need to replace the blood you lost, okay? So I need you to let go."</p><p> </p><p>Naruto stared at his sensei for a good bit before realization and understanding clicked and his hands sprung away from his sensei and the slight flush of fever in his cheeks became a bright blush of embarrassment. </p><p> </p><p>Iruka chuckled at his student's antics before ruffling the kid's hair and started by first giving Naruto a glass of juice, then putting some rice in the rice maker, and finally mixing fish into his rolled eggs. Naruto needed protein and iron to make up for his blood loss.</p><p> </p><p>Speaking of which, Iruka glanced over at the kid. Naruto's eyes were closed and he was nesting his flushed face in his crossed arms at the table. All in all, not great, the kid looked utterly miserable and potentially feverish. What was most worrying however was the quiet. Naruto was notorious for his motormouth and except  for the one question he had asked this morning, Iruka hadn't gotten much outta the kid besides "Hai sensei."</p><p> </p><p>Quickly rolling up the eggs, and letting them cool, Iruka grabbed the thermometer from his medicine cabinet before beelining back to Naruto and sticking it in the kid's mouth and under his tongue and receiving a glare of dull surprise and anger at being disturbed.</p><p> </p><p>Whipping it out after it beeped, Iruka glared at the 100.3°F. Dammit, Naruto had a slight fever. Nothing too worrying as long as it didn't get any higher, but it was also a key indicator for an infection, which could be a nightmare to handle.</p><p> </p><p>The young man shook his head, lunch first, then he would check the kid's wound.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>As always, thanks for reading!!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Treason or Tree Son?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Did i have plans when this started? Yes. Did i have a schedule? Yes. Did i keep to EITHER of these? Ahahahhaha. Send help</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"No Naruto, I'm not gonna yell at you," Iruka sighed in exhaustion, "Just come down from the tree; you're still injured and I need to clean and rewrap it."</p><p> </p><p>"Yes you are!" The tiny shivering boy shouted down, "You just yelled at me to stay still! And-and-and it was more than once, too!"</p><p> </p><p>There was a moment of silence before Iruka said, "That's because I needed to make sure your wound wasn't infected, Naruto! And I can't see if you're wiggling around like a caterpillar! Speaking of which, I need to re-wrap it and also probably clean it too now at this rate. So please get down!"</p><p> </p><p>It hurt, it hurt, it hurt! And it just wasn't fair! Didn't Iruka-sensei realize how much it hurt when he touched it! But it still hurt and Naruto wanted nothing more than to go to sleep, but no. If that meant he had to get poked and prodded again by Iruka-sensei, then it was just better to stay in the tree. Better yet, Naruto could just live in the tree. It wasn't a bad tree, nice branches, he could see Teuchi-san's place. Yeah, it was good tree.</p><p> </p><p>"Gotcha," came Iruka-sensei's voice from behind him, where Naruto was hugging the trunk. The eight-year-old swiftly spun around on the branch he was seated on to face his sensei. The tired young man held out his hand, "Come on, Naruto, let's get back home and then we can...have some chocolate milk. But come on, this isn't good for you."</p><p> </p><p>And Naruto screwed up face, his big squinty eyes pinched, his scowl more pronounced than ever, his eyebrows drawn and angry. His arms were crossed and defensive over his bare chest with the bottom of his wound red with smeared and dried blood poking out from beneath his arm. But when he opened his mouth to yell, to curse, to scream at Iruka-sensei to leave him the f**** alone, all that came out was the choked sob of a hurt and tired and feverish and neglected little boy. </p><p> </p><p>And it wasn't just one sob, oh no, they kept coming and coming and coming and there were tears and snot and two big strong arms holding him and gently ruffling his hair and maybe someone else was talking but Naruto was crying too loudly to care.</p><p> </p><p>When Naruto finally started to quiet down, Iruka looked at the little kid who was either shivering from the lack of a shirt or the fever, or both. "You ready to come back to my apartment now?"</p><p> </p><p>And much to the young teachers' disbelief, even after all of that the kid still shook his head and muttered a quiet and exhausted, "No."</p><p> </p><p>"I'm sorry Naruto, you don't have much of a choice right now. Unless the Third comes by, you're stuck with me. And my conscience doesn't really allow for me to leave my hurting and sick students alone with no one to care for them, okay?"</p><p> </p><p>But Naruto didn't reply, not immediately, and instead he pursed his lips and tucked his head into Iruka's shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>"Naruto?" he asked the kid in concern.</p><p> </p><p>"Tired," the kid mumbled back, not answering any of Iruka's questions.</p><p> </p><p>"Alright, alright," and deciding not to push the matter, Iruka tentatively picked up the worryingly compliant child and they made their way back to the apartment.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Waaaah poor baby. He'll feel better....eventually. When I finish this. For now, thanks for reading!!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. The Sea of Milk and Broken Glass</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Supervise young children.....just...just supervise them.  No need for helicoptering...but like. Watch them.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>AHAHAAHAH.  I am NOT dead.  So life as always is well LIFE.  Anywho I got real busy with my job and I was a part of that webtoons contest proved to myself that yes I CAN finish stories I came up with.  I just have to put in.....effort.  ALSO I'm in TWO shakespeare classes, just put on Hamlet (hahahahahhhahahah) in said class, and I'm in a Creative writing class. SO. Enjoy the chapter I've been stuck on since MAY </p><p>asdfghjkl</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It had been a process. A long and arduous and tedious process. But somehow, somehow, Iruka had finished re-cleaning and re-wrapping Naruto's wound. And now here he was, mixing chocolate milk and if anyone ever asked, Iruka just happened to own chocolate milk mix. He definitely didn't still drink chocolate milk as an adult ninja. No siree, not this adult. Naruto was getting out the rest of his pitiful sniffles while he sat drowning in Iruka's sweater and perched on a kitchen chair as Iruka finished up making the delicious mixture. </p><p>"Here you go Naruto!" Iruka said as he placed the glass of chocolate milk in front of Naruto and keeping a glass for himself. </p><p>"Thanks sensei," the red rim eyed child graciously muttered, his curiosity peaked by the brown milky liquid. Tentatively he took a quick sip and sat up exclaiming, "Iruka-sensei!!! This is delicious!" He curled back into himself after wincing from the sudden bout of excitement, but continued to sip at the absolutely amazing chocolate milk.</p><p>Iruka chuckled at the antics of the hyperactive eight year old, glad that he seemed to be feeling better. The poor young teacher didn't know whether to thank the painkillers or the chocolate milk or a combination of the two of them. If the kid wasn't exactly okay or happy right now, he was at least better than he had been, and that was good.</p><p>"Naruto," the teacher said as he got up, taking one last swig of the chocolate milk, "I have to go finish grading some tests. I'm gonna leave some paper and some markers here for you to draw. I'm sorry I don't have much here that's fun for kids."</p><p>Naruto shrugged, only glancing up from his chocolate milk to grumble a quick, "Hai," and went back to sipping the delicious liquid. </p><p>Unsure of how to proceed, Iruka hesitated in ruffling Naruto's hair, but ultimately decided against it and made his way back to his office to grade papers.  Iruka had second thoughts about leaving Naruto in the kitchen but ultimately believed it would be more of a disaster to have the hyper-active child with him as he frantically finished grading tests he was woefully behind on grading now.</p><p>And not even an hour later Iruka wanted to eat his words as he heard a colorful explosion of explicatives that no voice that high-pitched and young should ever know and the shattering of glass hitting the hardwood floor.</p><p>“Naruto!” Iruka shouted partially in annoyance, but mostly of worry.  No kid should ever be around shattered glass.</p><p>The sight that greeted the young and harried teacher was that of Naruto slipping and falling off of the milky wet kitchen chair onto a sea of more milk and broken glass.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>flex ur epic arm muscles that I know you have from all your fanfics leaving you on a cliffhanger!</p><p>As always, hope you enjoyed reading!!</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading!!!</p><p>Also like the chapters will vary in length...so some will be a lot shorter than other but to combine chapters will disorganize the whole thing so...</p></blockquote></div></div>
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